DIY Snowflake Christmas Throw Pillows

Now that Halloween is over it's time to start focusing our attention on the holidays. We've already got snow on the ground so it's not hard to get into the Christmas spirit. As I was taking down the Fall/Halloween décor I started thinking about what I could add to our holiday décor this year.

One thing I love to decorate with but don't have enough of is holiday toss cushions. I've seen so many that I love but they are way over my budget. When I go back after the holidays hoping to find them on clearance, the ones I liked are often sold out. So I did the next best thing and made my own DIY Snowflake Christmas Throw Pillows for a fraction of the price.

I've included a materials list towards the bottom of this post for your convenience.

DIY Snowflake Christmas Throw Pillows

STEP 1: Cutting the fabric

Fold your fabric so you cut both the front and back pieces at the same time. For a 16-inch pillow form measure a 16 1/2 inch square, allowing for a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this step but I'm confident you understand what I'm talking about.

Note: If sewing isn't your forte, keep it super easy by using readymade cotton pillow covers for this project.

STEP 2: Creating a graphic

I found the Snowflake image at The Graphics Fairy, resized it to 12-inches wide, and printed it on legal size bond paper.

Step 3: Transferring graphic onto pillow

Place a sheet of bond paper over the printed snowflake graphic and trace the snowflake using an art brush and Red Ink Effects Fabric Transfer Ink. Let it dry for 30 minutes.

Note: I tried painting directly onto the printed snowflake but when I transferred it onto the fabric some of the black ink transferred as well.

It is recommended that you use fabric with less than 60% cotton fibers. I choose a 100% cotton fabric and so I needed to prep the fabric first with Ink Effects Basecoat.

Mask off the area surrounding the snowflake with sheets of white paper or painters tape to avoid overspray on the rest of the fabric. Shake the bottle well, lightly and evenly spray a coat of Ink Effects Basecoat where the snowflake will be. Remove the painter's tape and let dry for 30 minutes.

Set your iron to the Cotton - No Steam setting.

Place painted snowflake, graphic side down onto the dry treated surface.

Place a larger sheet of unpainted paper on top to protect the fabric.

Iron directly on top of the paper for three minutes.

Caution: Keep the iron moving or you run the risk of burning the paper.

Carefully remove the paper and let the fabric cool.

STEP 4: Embellish with mini mirrors

STEP 5: Adding decorative cord trim

If you're uncomfortable sewing cording trim skip this step and move onto Step 6 - adding a zipper. If you'd prefer not having a zipper, move on to Step 7.

Add the decorative lip cording onto the front piece ONLY of the pillow.

Pin the lip cording onto the good side of the fabric of the pillow front, aligning the edge of the lip trim with the raw edge of the fabric.

Using a zipper foot on your sewing machine, stitch as close as you can to the cording (as pictured below).

Snip slices into the lip at each corner to avoid bulk and make it easier to turn at the corners (as pictured below).

STEP 6: Adding a zipper

I added a zipper on the bottom of each pillow. I'm a novice sewer and didn't feel my skill set was good enough to offer a tutorial on this step and so I found this tutorial on Pinterest that I hope you will find helpful.

STEP 7: Sewing pillow cover

This is the step where you sew your pillow together.

Pillow Without Zipper

With the good sides of the pillow together, stitch the seams with a 1/2-inch seam allowance.

Leave an 8-inch opening on the bottom of the pillow to slip the pillow form through.

Turn the pillow right side out and pull the corners using the handle of a wooden spoon.

Insert the pillow form and pin the opening closed.

Hand stitch the opening closed.

Pillow With Zipper

Once you've added the zipper from Step 6, sew all the seams together using your zipper foot following the stitch you made when adding the cording.

Open the zipper (it'll be upside down) and turn the pillows right side out.

Push the corners out with the handle of a wooden spoon.

Insert the pillow form

As promised I've included a materials list below.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend to complete this project. What that means is that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive a small portion of any sales at no additional cost to you to support the costs of running this site. See my disclosure policy page.

Materials List

I'm thrilled with my DIY version of festive Snowflake Christmas Throw Pillows that were easy on the pocketbook. If you're having difficulty with my tutorial, please leave your questions in the comment section below and I'll be happy to answer them.

If you plan on making your own holiday pillows or know someone who may, please save the tutorial on Pinterest and/or share it with a friend.

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